WQCS00010_NOI_NOV2020DV0511_Response_20201201

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Public Services Department
Water & Sewer Mains Division
Michael S. Parrish
December 1. 2020
Lon T. Snider
NCDENR
Winston-Salem Regional Office
450 West Hanes Mill Road, Suite 300
Winston-Salem, NC 27105
RE: Notice of Violation
Tracking # NOV-2020-DV-0511
Incident Number 202002565
09/06/2020
Mr. Snider,
NORTH CAROLms INTERNATIONAL CITY'
NC Department of
Environmental Quality
Received
DEC 0 9 2020
Winston-Salem
Regional Office
This letter is in response to the Notice of Violation, Tracking # NOV-2020-DV-0511 concerning the spill
that occurred on September 6th, 2020 at 610 East Kearns Avenue, Guilford County, High Point, North
Carolina.
The spill at the above -mentioned address lasted for 37 hours and 18 minutes. The initial call came in as
an odor complaint approximately a half mile away from the spill site at 8:47pm on East Market Center
Drive. The crew arrived on site and began checking the lines to see if there was a problem in the area.
After finding no visible sign of a blockage and detecting no odor the crew called dispatch to see if they
could contact the customer and get a better address or contact number for the customer. The crew
contacted the customer a spoke to them about the odor at 11:00pm. The crew requested that dispatch
leave the workorder open for the crew coming in the next day to see if they could find /smell anything
different during the day.
On September 7'h, 2020 a crew arrived onsite at East Kearns Avenue at 12:00pm. When the crew
arrived, they began checking the lines to see if they could find a problem in the area. With the same
result as the night before, finding no visible sign of a blockage and detecting no odor the crew left the
complaint area and continued with other calls.
On September 81h, 2020 The Collection System ORC, Backup ORC and two crews went to the site of
the odor complaint again to canvas the area for any sign of an industry or residence in the area
contributing to the reported smell. Crews found a spilling manhole surrounded by rags that was
somewhat out of alignment to the inspection route they had taken during the night of the 61h of
September when the odor complaint was called in. The crews worked to unstop the sewer main using a
sewer combination cleaning truck. It was determined that the blockage was caused by a large amount
of rags that had built up in the invert of the manhole. Once the spill was knocked down all solids were
removed, and lime was spread over the area.
City of High Point, P.O. 230, 211 South Hamilton Street, High Point, NC 27261 USA
Office: 336-883-3691 Fax: [phone] TDD 336.883.8517

All sanitary sewer mains in the area were cleaned to prevent another repeat spill. The rags that caused
the blockage were traced back to Marsh Furniture. This was referred to our pretreatment coordinator for
further investigation. The business was sent a letter from the Pretreatment Coordinator on September
23, 2020 as well as educational material discussing the proper disposal of rags and sanitation wipes
(letter enclosed). The line has been put on a Preventative maintenance schedule and the frequency of
cleaning has been increased to help prevent any future spills in this area.
If you have any questions or require further information, please feel free to call meat [phone].
Sincerely,
Michael S. rris 6-
ORC WWCS
cc: Terry Houk- Public Services Director, Derrick Boone- Assistant Public Services Director, Greg Hall- W/S
Mains Superintendent, Joseph Holden- Assistant W/S Mains Superintendent, Carrie Hyler-Pretreatment
Supervisor, File
City of High Point, P.O. 230, 211 South Hamilton Street, High Point, NC 27261 USA
Office: 336-883-3691 Fax: [phone] TDD 336.883.8517

City of High Point
Public Services Department
LAB SERVICES DIVISION
September 23, 2020
Marsh Furniture
1001 S. Centennial Ave.
High Point. NC 272W
Subject: Sewer Blockage
Dear High Point Business Partner,
The City of High Point recently experienced a sewer overflow In your area that was caused by rags and other
debris. According to our sewer crew this Is not the first overflow In the area caused by rags. During the
course of the Investigation and source tracing, crews televised the sewer line that travels along Park Street
and discovered an abnormally high amount of rags and/or paper towel debris in the section where your
facility's lateral sewer connects to the sewer main.
Only human waste and toilet paper should be flushed down the drain. We are requesting your assistance to
remind staff and visitors that debris such as paper towels, wipes, rags, etc. should not be flushed down the
toilet Enclosed are some pamphlets to assist with the outreach and education. if you have any questions,
pieese contact me at (336) 383-30
Sincenth"
`- Carrie Hyler
Pretreetment Supervisor
Enclosuras
P.O. 230. High Point. NC 27261 USA
Phone:3 .663.3a10 Fax: 336.663.310e iDO: 33l.eB.i.6617
City of High Point, P.O. 230, 211 South Hamilton Street, High Point, NC 27261 USA
Office: 336-883-3691 Fax: [phone]DD 336.883.8517